


Lightning

by Fabrisse



Category: Glee, The Tempest - Shakespeare
Genre: AU, M/M, Reversebang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-23
Updated: 2013-07-23
Packaged: 2017-12-21 02:51:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/894920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Interstitials for Shakespeare's Tempest.  Blaine is on the ship and he meets Ariel whose true name is Kurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lightning

**Author's Note:**

> Many people think the Island in _The Tempest_ is supposed to be Corfu. I used that for the types of things that grow on the Island.
> 
> The art is by Lalala-broadway. [Art on Tumblr](http://lalala-broadway.tumblr.com/post/56214715087)
> 
> Gileswench betaed, bless her.

Blaine climbed the main mast to help the sailors bundle up the sail before the strong wind blew them aground. The storm had come out of nowhere and if they didn’t get the sails tied out of the way, it was going to run them aground. He did his best not to look down, not to fear the fall that could kill him. 

The main sail was taken care of and one of the other sailors motioned to go up to the smaller sail. Heart in his mouth, Blaine looked up toward the crow’s nest and climbed. For a moment, he thought he saw a young man laughing, perched on the mast like a pennant, then the tops of the masts were engulfed in violet St. Elmo’s fire. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. It was the most terrified he’d ever been. 

There was a moment when he lost his footing. It was clear the ship was going to founder, and Blaine could only hope they weren’t too far from land. Unlike many of his compatriots, he could swim if the sea weren’t too rough, if the land could be sighted.

The ship yawed, and Blaine stumbled, his grip failed. The fall felt weightless, slow and gentle. The water was cold, but he could figure out which way was up and he began to swim in a sure stroke away from the ship before it wrecked. 

Every once in a while, Blaine felt a tug on one hand or the other guiding his strokes. Finally, after time that felt like hours, the water became shallower. He stood as the winds howled around him, and walked up the beach as far as he could before collapsing at the edge of a forest.

Now that he was safe, he fainted from exhaustion.

***  
Kurt answered his master’s call. Prospero put down his staff and asked him questions about the disposition of the people from the ship. Ferdinand had been separated from the others. The sailors had been guided to another island not far away where there was a small village. The rest of the people Prospero was interested in were at the far, rocky edge of this island of exile. Prospero didn’t ask about the other young man. Since he wasn’t a sailor and he wasn’t one of the people his master had named, Kurt had helped him swim to a part of the island that would give him water, shelter, and fruit to sustain him. He’d helped the young man when he fell and given him strength while he swam. This one was beautiful. This one was Kurt’s.

He found the beautiful one not far from the beach Kurt had guided him to. Kurt had enough magic of his own to build a hut or shrink him down to a size where he'd be safe in a seashell, but… humans could deceive. His master had found him trapped in the pine where Sycorax had left him, but, even though he'd promised freedom, he'd demanded servitude. He'd never even asked a name, just called Kurt "Ariel" because he was a creature of the air.

Kurt called upon the gentlest breezes to lift his beautiful boy and carry him about twenty yards to lay him on a bed of thistledown in shade and near fresh water. They shook down pine nuts and chestnuts, and he coaxed some berries to ripen early not far away. He asked his sisters in the ocean to bear one of the chests from the shipwreck so there would be clothing. He put down a perimeter that would turn away any harm. Lastly, he took a large chestnut leaf and placed it over the sailor's face. He knew the moon and feared she, too, would fall in love if she saw this one.

This time Kurt would be cautious. He would observe and see if this one was as beautiful in mind and spirit as he was in body. And then…

Kurt lowered his eyes. There could be no then, even as his chest ached with hope.

***  
He’d followed orders and taunted the boy Ferdinand. His master’s daughter seemed much taken with the princeling. And Caliban had found some of the wanderers – people who had exiled his master. Kurt didn’t feel the need to taunt them. They would have enough torture from Caliban's breath.

It was still early. He would go check on his special one.

***  
Blaine woke up surprised to find his bed so comfortable and a leaf covering his face. He assumed he'd grabbed it to keep the sun from his eyes and to let his body rest.

He sat up, aching with the effort after last night's ( _"It was just last night?" he wondered._ ) swim. That thought brought him fully awake. He was shipwrecked. He was alive and… his hand brushed through a pile of tiny nuts. He brought one to his nose and sniffed. He looked at it closely and smiled. He ventured a taste and thought, _"Pignoli."_ His eyes lit on the brambles nearby with their early ripe fruit, and he could smell fresh water from a nearby stream.

If he were to be shipwrecked, then this place was the best for it. He'd need to figure out a signal fire, and build a more permanent hut -- or find a cave -- so that he could be protected while he waited for rescue.

He stretched. It felt good, for all the aching, because every twinge meant he was alive. He stood and stretched again, and saw a trunk close by. There were clothes and a sword. Well, he could do worse. This island would let him survive. Today, it was kind, but he knew there might be times when it wouldn't be. He stretched his aching muscles again and realized that he needed to drink water… no, first he needed to relieve himself, then he needed to drink water and examine himself for any injuries. Infections could be deadly. After that, he would plan out his day, his week, and see if he could find high ground that would let him know how far he was from the shipping lanes. Blaine needed to know if this was a brief respite from the backbiting and social climbing of the court or, potentially, a long-life of merest survival. Either way, he had a plan for his morning.

Feeling brighter, he ate a handful of pine nuts and went to find the stream.

***  
Kurt could always hear his master, no matter where he hid -- the staff he wielded and the words Kurt had given to be freed from that tree held that much power. Today, that seemed an advantage. It meant he could go visit or view or… something the boy (or was he a man) he'd rescued. 

He was afraid that when he got there, the boy wouldn't really be so beautiful. That he'd be gross in his habits or have a streak of cruelty, like Caliban. (Caliban would chase and kill animals beyond what he needed for food or protection. He'd taunt them, drive them to exhaustion, even when he'd had clear shots from his bow or his javelin. Caliban liked to see suffering.) He couldn't bear it if his boy was like Caliban.

He lay down in the grass, reveling in the delicate scent of wild thyme in the air. Bees were coming out to start their days, and he could just barely waft the scent of apricot blossom to them. If his boy stayed, there would be apricots for his delectation.

In the distance, Kurt heard something else. He let his magic follow what his ears picked up and magnify it.

"I see you there. Why are you watching me bathe? Are you Diana who would hunt me down if I saw you in your natural form?" The voice was pleasing and obviously near laughter.

Kurt flew toward the sounds and made himself tiny. He peered out from behind a wild hyacinth and saw his sailor naked and unashamed bathing in a small pool. There was a fluffy piebald rabbit calmly nibbling mint near him and the man spoke to it.

Kurt allowed himself to go closer to the pool, hiding behind pebbles and herbs.

"Now, my little Artemis, I should tell you that you have no worries if you were to show me your true self. I would be more likely to be consumed with passion for your brother, Apollo. I love his poetry as well as his form."

Kurt felt feathers in his chest beating when he heard his sailor admit his love for men. Then, more amazingly, the young man splashed loudly and began to sing:

_"Under the greenwood tree_  
 _"Who loves to lie with me,_  
 _"And turn his merry note_  
 _"Unto the sweet bird's throat,_  
 _"Come hither, come hither, come hither!_  
 _"Here shall he see_  
 _"No enemy_  
 _"But winter and rough weather."[1]_

The song filled Kurt as his own music did, and he echoed back with:

_"Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings,_  
 _"And Phoebus 'gins arise,_  
 _"His steeds to water at those springs_  
 _"On chaliced flowers that lies;_  
 _"And winking Mary-buds begin_  
 _"To ope their golden eyes:_  
 _"With every thing that pretty is,_  
 _"My lordling sweet, arise:_  
 _"Arise, arise."[2]_

The young man stood with awe and wonder on his face, but Kurt was noticing how the water was caught on the hair trailing down his body, refracting into rainbows bright with the same joy he felt to see such beauty. When the young man got out of the pool, Kurt saw every flex of muscle and admired the strength of him. There was a small shiver across his skin, so Kurt called upon Zephyr the sweetest, warmest of breezes to dry him gently. The young man groaned as the breezes played around him, letting his head loll back and Kurt nearly wept to see his eyelashes fanned against his cheeks with a few drops of water caught in them.

He was just about to make a sound, to try to talk to his sailor when he heard Prospero call in a rage. Kurt winked out and came to rest in front of his master.

***  
Blaine dressed and followed the water upstream, noting the herbs and flowers that grew there. He'd brought along his nearly shredded shirt and tied it off so that it could be used for carrying. He picked all the wild greens he recognized and the oregano and herbs. There were laurel bushes, and he pulled off some of their leaves to flavor his dinner. Any broken branches of olive wood he picked up and slung together with the lace from his shirt. 

As he walked back, he heard music, the same beautiful voice he'd heard earlier.

_Where the bee sucks, there suck I:_  
 _In a cowslip’s bell I lie;_  
 _There I couch when owls do cry._  
 _On the bat’s back I do fly_  
 _After summer merrily._  
 _Merrily, merrily shall I live now_  
 _Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.[3]_

A young man, wreathed with ivy and a globe of light playing beside him, was lying across the stream. Blaine lifted his sword and then lowered it as he could not believe a creature so exquisite could harm him.

He listened and when the chorus came again, he sang a harmony line on "Merrily, merrily shall I live now…"

Kurt turned to him, stricken, as he'd pitched his voice, he'd thought, so no human could hear it. 

Blaine said, "Who are you? What's your name?"

"There's power in names. People can command you."

Blaine nodded and held out his hand. "My name is Blaine. I come from Milan with the late Duke's court and I was washed onto your shores."

Kurt stared at him and beckoned. "What do you have in your bag?"

"How could you see it under the cape?" Blaine asked.

"What do you have?"

"Herbs and greens for dinner. I have some dry wood, too. I thought I'd dig clams or see if there were mussels or oysters. Could you join me?"

"I don't know, Blaine, but I'd like to."

Blaine smiled. "I'll start the fire when the sun sets. I'll be at the mouth of the stream where it flows into the sea. Please come to me."

"Even though you don't know my name?"

He nodded. "I don't know why, but I trust you. Please share my supper with me."

"If I can, I will. My word is not mine to give. But, truly, if I can, I will."

***  
The fire had died down, and Blaine sighed. The mussels he'd found tasted wonderful with the greens and wild herbs. His mother would have used a little wine with them, but for a meal he'd found and made for himself, it was wonderful. 

His only regret was there was no company. He'd waited for nearly an hour past sunset before finally putting the food on the fire. He was thankful for the cast iron pot he'd found at the very bottom of one end of the trunk. It made everything more possible, and so did the wooden plate and goblet wrapped near it. He put the clean pot with fresh water and mint leaves back on the dying embers. A little tisane to soothe his stomach before sleep would comfort him.

"Blaine?"

He turned at the sound of his name. "You came. I didn't think you would, so I ate all of it, but I can…"

"No need." Kurt held out a packet wrapped in chestnut leaves.

"Goat cheese?"

"I thought you might need it tomorrow."

Blaine said, "Thank you."

Kurt held out another packet, this one of grape leaf filled with honeycomb. "To sweeten your mint tea."

"Will you share it with me, Xenos?"

"Am I a stranger?"

Blaine felt portent in the words. "You are my guest. I hope you'll be my friend, but I must have something to call you."

"I will answer to Xenos, for now."

Blaine broke off a piece of honeycomb and put it in the wooden goblet. He carefully wrapped the rest back up in its leaf and put it safely next to the cheese. "I only have one cup. You can have the first tea, and I'll have the second cup."

"Or we could share the cup, sip by sip."

Blaine blushed and grinned. "Only courting couples do that where I come from, but different places have different customs."

"Only courting couples do it here, too."

Blaine's blush deepened. "Does that mean we're courting?" He thought for a moment. "Wait, does that mean there's a town?"

"No. There's just my master and his daughter and… a damned soul called Caliban. There's no town or farm or anything. Just my master's cave with all his books. His staff…" Kurt shuddered.

"Then I'm better here alone. Or with you? Xenos?"

"I think the tea is ready."

Blaine tipped the pot and poured the liquid over the honeycomb. 

Kurt said, "You take the first sip."

Blaine nodded and did as he asked. He handed the cup to his new friend, and Kurt turned it to sip from the exact same place Blaine's lips had touched.

Blaine's hand shook when the cup was passed back and their fingertips brushed. The mere touch was like a lightning bolt to his body. "Are you a god?"

"No, Blaine."

He sipped the honeyed drink from the same spot and thought he could taste Xenos' lips through all the other flavors. "Are you a man like me?"

"No, Blaine."

"Then you're an angel. Nothing so beautiful could be less."

"I…I am not free. I will be. My master promised. Well, he's promised before, but I think this time it will come to pass. Tomorrow night, the day after at the latest."

Blaine said, "But now there can be no promises? You can't tell me who or what you are?"

Kurt took the cup and sipped. He held the soft liquid in his mouth, then leaned forward and pressed his lips to Blaine's. When Blaine's lips parted, he shared the sweet tea with him, though the kiss itself was sweeter. Blaine wrapped his arms under Kurt's shoulders and pulled him closer.

"My name. I can give you my name. It's Kurt."

"Kurt. Kurt the beautiful. Kurt the succorer. Kurt the angel."

Their bodies surged together and they tried to touch every inch of bared skin. Kurt suddenly went rigid and said, "My master calls me."

Faintly, at the edge of his hearing, Blaine thought he heard the word "Ariel?"

Kurt said, "My master calls me that. Please don't give him my name. With that he would never have to free me. He could command horrors."

"Then you are my Xenos until you can be free and yourself."

This time Blaine heard the call more clearly. He said, "Come to me tonight, later, if you can? Or join me when I breakfast. Please, let me know that I'll see you again."

"And I will call you Xenos, too, so that my master won't be able to play his tricks on you." Kurt said, "I don't know whether I can be with you tonight or tomorrow, but…" He kissed Blaine again, and flicked his tongue around Blaine's lips. "I promise you will have dreams sweeter than the honeycomb."

"ARIEL!"

"Go, before he punishes you."

Kurt winked out, startling Blaine with his sudden disappearance. Kurt winked back beside him and kissed his ear. "I'm not an angel," he said as he disappeared again.

***  
It was not in his master's interests for the shipwrecked aristocracy to give in to their conspiracies and murder each other. Kurt let out his frustration as he led them astray through fog and night, keeping them out of each others way until a moment came where he could force them to sleep. He knows a little of his master's timetable and planned the sleep for six hours -- enough that the sun will be high, and they can't hide their treacheries. Enough to renew them, but not quite enough to refresh them fully from the trials they've faced for the past day and a half.

He reported back to his master, accepted his praise, and accepted yet another promise that was part postponement for his freedom.

It was two hours until dawn. He barely had to focus to find Blaine, sleeping within the safety of the perimeter. Blaine's shoulders peeked out from the covering of the cape, bare and well muscled. Kurt leaned in and breathed a bare whisper of kiss over Blaine's ear.

Blaine opened his eyes, muzzily, and smiled. "Come to bed my sweetest angel. My Xenos. Are you to be Eros to my Psyche?"

"You've already looked on my face, dearest of men."

Blaine reached up languidly and pulled Kurt into a deep kiss. "Come to my bed, if only to rest beside me. Does your kind need rest?"

Kurt said, "Not sleep, but we can grow weary -- especially of lies and false promises."

"Your master?"

"Yes."

Blaine kissed his forehead. "Then rest in my arms for as long as you may."

Kurt slid under the cape and found Blaine as naked as he'd been in the pool. "Just rest in your arms?"

"A man may hope for more. But, yes, if what you need is peace, find it here." Blaine spread his arms wide, and Kurt pillowed his head on his shoulder. 

"I promise you a kiss before I leave again."

Blaine stroked his cheek. "You don't have to promise me anything."

***  
Blaine shook him awake. "I heard him call Ariel."

Kurt was astonished. "I heard nothing…" There it was -- his master's voice, bellowing for Ariel and threatening woe. He kissed Blaine softly. "I keep my promises." And Blaine found himself empty armed.

He lay back and licked his lips. "My sweetest angel," he breathed as he fell back to sleep.

***  
He woke fully about an hour after dawn and found his cup filled with fresh goat's milk, a pile of tiny oranges, and two rough grained rolls. He bit into the first roll and sipped the creamy milk and felt it better than any Ducal feast he'd attended.

Kurt was an enigma. He was solid to the touch, but he could wink out of existence. He'd apparently watched Blaine bathe yesterday, so maybe he could turn into rabbits -- maybe even shape shift into any animal. It should bother him that his lust and love were set on something not of this world. It was a recipe for heartbreak. 

Blaine shrugged. It was too late, his heart was already given. If it broke, at least it had loved.

***  
Kurt found him at noon bathing in the cool water during the hottest part of the day. The scent of Blaine's golden skin enticed Kurt to come closer. 

"There you are," Blaine said, "I've been looking for you forever."

Kurt rubbed their noses together and said, "You have me."

"Not yet. Nor have you had me, and oh, how I wanted you to stay beside me to love the night into day."

"Do you really want me? The way I can love your body?" He held Blaine's eyes, but found no fear in them.

"Yes. I love you. I trust you."

Kurt said, "You are only human."

Blaine nodded. "Better to be loved and die in that moment, than never to have known your passion."

Kurt brushed a soft kiss over Blaine's mouth and inhaled his breath when his lips parted. "Look in my eyes," Kurt said. And Blaine's golden eyes gazed into his. "Give yourself to me," Kurt said.

And Blaine answered, "I already have."

In that moment, Blaine felt hurricane winds and gentle breezes whirl around them. Every little atomie was cooled and swept by the gusts coiling through him. He kept his focus on the aquamarine eyes of Kurt, felt himself harden wanting to touch Kurt as deeply as he was being touched. Water from the pool sprayed around them in a fine mist, and, eyes still locked on Kurt's, he leaned in to stroke and kiss the very air surrounding them. The air kissed back, buffeting his skin, bringing him close while he felt an answering hardness in his own hand. He whimpered with need and clasped and stroked as his body collected together and exploded outward in ecstasy.

He came back to himself resting in Kurt's arms. He smiled and said, "Did you, was it…?"

Kurt chuckled. "There were thunderstorms all over the island and a tremendous crack of lightning."

"It felt like that for me, too." Blaine looked at Kurt closely. "You mean it. You're…"

"My master calls me 'an airy sprite.' Others of his sort call me an elemental."

"It was wonderful. Perfect. I love you."

Kurt kissed him. "I never knew it was in my power to love until I saw you. I feared you would be as other men, but you have been nothing but love and trust. So, I need to tell you…"

Blaine said, "Yes, tell me what?"

"The sailors from your ship are on nearby island. The repairs will be finished by tomorrow's tide. The members of the Duke's court and the Prince's -- well, they're the worst of humanity -- but they live, too, and tonight will meet my master and his daughter. Tomorrow they all leave the island and I will be free."

"So I can stay with you and bathe in a pool and eat pine nuts and greens all my days?"

Kurt tilted his head up. "Is that what you want? To share your life with me?"

"It's my dearest wish."

"Even if you are no longer human?"

Blaine blinked. "Yes. If you tell me I have to jump off the cliff I saw yesterday to fly away with you, I will do it."

"Then later today, I'll come to you and show you the path to my master's cave. You may meet Caliban. Try to run from him, but, if you can't, fight him and call for Xenos and I will lend you my strength. When you get there, after my master has arranged everything, introduce yourself to him as Xenos. I will stand beside you and ask him to make certain we never part."

"I will," Blaine said. "Do we… could we? I want to make love with you again."

Kurt laughed quietly. "I think another thunderstorm might be rolling in."

***  
Blaine put on a thick shirt and a pair of trews that were very tight from the trunk of clothes. He put all the items he'd used back in and shut it fast in case he needed to return. He'd even found a pair of gillies to protect his feet from the underbrush. He finished the goat's cheese and had an orange. He had saved a few out in case he got thirsty on the path. 

Kurt stood there. A moment ago, it had been empty space, but Kurt stood beside him. They held hands to begin the journey, not speaking, but both relaxed to be together.

They both heard the cry for Ariel. Wordlessly, they leaned in and shared a deep kiss before Kurt vanished to answer the call.

Blaine kept walking. He knew nothing would happen before sunset, but he wanted to be as close to Kurt as he could get. All of this would be hard for Kurt, and he knew that Kurt would feel his presence, know where he was, even as Blaine was hidden from all the others.

A wild man, and two men who had gone wild, went running and screaming across the path.

The first of them turned around and bellowed, "This is my island, bequeathed to me by my mother Sycorax. You should not be here." He turned to the other two. "Should I smite him? I will do it for another sip of your elixir."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. He only had a small eating dagger on him, but he would fight like a dervish to get to Kurt.

Stephano and Trinculo looked at him, looked at each other, and finally Stephano said, "Nay, good monster, he's nothing to us. Less than nothing. A sailor who will wander off a cliff of his own accord. I say you, stand down, and I'll give you another sip of elixir."

Blaine watched the wild man lunge for the jug and smelled stale ale when the cork was drawn. 

The wild man turned back to him and said, "Do you hear sweet noises on this island?"

"I do. I could weep to hear them more."

The wild man straightened, then drank heavily from the jug, belching as he recorked it. "You are nothing. Less than nothing. I will leave you to find your cliff."

Blaine nodded and said, "My thanks to you and your…?"

"My master is a powerful god who will make me the rightful ruler here."

"Then my thanks to you, the king, and your lord and master."

For a moment, it looked like the wild man might lunge for him anyway, and Blaine tightened one hand around his belt and the other around the hilt of his dagger. 

"Oh, monster… follow along or there shall be no more for you to drink." The two men went haring off through the woods and the wild man followed close on their heels.

Blaine sat on a friendly rock and ate an orange to restore himself. Then he stood and looked up the steep path before beginning to climb.

***  
An hour later, he was near the ridge by the magician's cave. He saw the wild men mincing in fine clothes, distracted from their drunkenness. 

He felt like he was watching the last act of a play he'd never seen. A powerful man with a staff introduced himself as Prospero and apparently astonished the Prince and the current Duke of Milan who'd usurped him. Blaine didn't particularly care. He'd never liked the current Duke, but he wasn't certain Prospero would be better.

There was going to be a wedding between Ferdinand, the prince's son, and Miranda, Prospero's daughter. The wild man and the two companions were chastised. It was all very confusing. 

But he heard Kurt's sweet voice calling out as Prospero dismissed the others to the now repaired ship and stepped forward. "Hold, Prospero."

The newly restored Duke turned to look at him. "What does a sailor want of me? What's your name, boy?"

"Call me Xenos," Blaine said.

Prospero smiled. "You aren't as clever as Odysseus."

"I don't pretend to be. I come to ask a boon."

Prospero rolled his eyes. "Of course, you want magic gold or a palace or a place in court or…"

"I want to live with my lover."

"Does she love you?" Prospero asked.

Ariel said, "I do love him, Master." He choked the final word out.

"I gave you your freedom as soon as you get us back to Italy. Do you really want to lose it again, so soon? To this?"

"I love him, Master."

"He is the love of my life," Blaine said.

Prospero turned between them and said, "My Ariel, I'm weak now, and I must break my staff so its power doesn't fall into the wrong hands. I may not have enough to transform too, too solid flesh into airy spirit. It could kill him."

Blaine said, "The risk is mine. I bear it gladly."

"Quiet, Xenos." Prospero waved his hand, and Blaine found himself without the power of speech.

Kurt yelled, "Master, stop that now or I will break you with your staff."

He waved again and Blaine started to recite the alphabet, just to make sure he could talk again. 

"I repeat my question," Prospero said. "Will you, my delightful sprite, accept the spell could make you human, make you mortal. You could die now or in a hundred years. Now you are an infinite."

Kurt locked eyes with Blaine. "I would rather be human and with him than immortal without him. If I die in trying, I will die with love. He has my heart."

Prospero said, "That's the first I heard that you had one."

"And if he had no heart before, he does now for I gave him mine the first time I saw him."

"I doubt you remember the first time you saw him," Prospero mumbled.

Blaine said, "He was atop the main mast laughing with delight during the tempest that brought us here."

Kurt stepped forward and kissed him.

"Well. That is something new under the sun." Prospero nodded. "To perform the spell, Xenos, I need you as naked as my Ariel is."

"He's mine -- or his own. Never yours." Blaine stripped himself until he stood naked before them both.

"You need something substantial to share between you. It will be the spell's focus."

Blaine went to his pack and unwrapped the last of the honeycomb.

Prospero nodded. "That will do." He sighed. "And lastly, I will need your names, your true names."

Blaine said, "I ask your word that you will not compel or bind either of us."

Prospero said, "You have my oath."

"I am Blaine."

"And I am Kurt."

"Clasp hands and make certain you're both touching the honeycomb."

Blaine placed the comb between his lips and Kurt's face brightened with delight. He leaned in and kissed Blaine, sharing the sweetness. They embraced fully, and Prospero said, "Yes, well, I suppose that will work."

He began the chant and felt the power surge through him one last time. The bodies in front of him entwined more fully and brightened in his eyes. They lifted from the ground and as the spell reached its peak, Prospero broke his staff releasing all the magic, all the power, he had left.

The spot in front of him was empty and still. Then a breeze wafted over him with the scent of Milan roses and wild hyacinth and honey. There was a feather light touch on each cheek and the sound of laughter. In the distance, he saw twin lightning strikes.

"Safe journeys, my Ariel, to you and your love."

**Author's Note:**

> [1] From _As You Like It_ by William Shakespeare  
>  [2] From _Cymbeline_ by William Shakespeare, with one word change  
>  [3] From _The Tempest_ by William Shakespeare


End file.
